Field of the Invention
The embodiments herein relate to the performance of integrated circuits and, more particularly, to determining the performance of processor cores in multiple core processors.
Description of the Related Art
The performance of high-end integrated circuits (ICs), such as, for example, microprocessors, has increased over the years and continues to increase when looking at IC designs for the future. Generally speaking, the performance boost of microprocessors may be associated with features such as, for example, higher clock frequencies (i.e., shorter clock periods) allowing more instructions to be executed in a given period of time, multiple cores for executing various processes concurrently, and multi-threaded cores that allow a given core to utilize its resources more efficiently.
In a homogeneous multiple core processor (commonly referred to as a “multicore processor”), the multiple cores may share a similar design. Accordingly, each core may be expected to have a similar level of performance as the other cores in the processor. If multiple cores are expected to perform similarly, yet one or more of these cores perform significantly different from the other cores, then the processor may have one or more defects, and may require repairs, replacement, or a redesign.